Open Space Advocates In Wasatch County Declare Election Results A Victory

Those that advocate for open space in Wasatch County saw a clean three-for-three sweep in election results.

As results rolled in at 11:30 pm on election night, Wasatch County advocates for open space were pleased to see the results.

Midway residents voted 54% in favor of a $5 million Midway open space bond. The Midway Bond was not the only victory for those interested in open space in the county. 57% of voters in Wasatch County voted in favor of a $10 million bond. 62% of Wasatch County voters also voted to overturn a re-drawing of a boundary line between the Central and Southern Planning areas in Wasatch County. Katie Noble of Pure Midway views all three efforts as a success.

“Tracy Taylor has spearheaded the effort for the Wasatch County bond and also against Prop 10. Both of those measures were successful for open space. Not only did Midway get its open space bond passed but Wasatch County got its open space bond passed and they pushed back an up-zoning of density that was encroaching into the North Fields. So it’s a real win today for open space and we could not be more thrilled.”

The Wasatch open space bond will be issued over 30 years. Residents with a primary home valued at $300,000 will pay just shy of $20 a year. Secondary homes and commercial businesses valued at $300,000 will pay $38 a year for 30 years.

Bond proponents hope to leverage the money along with grants and foundations to purchase conservation easements on the Heber Valley floor. In Wasatch County 6,509 residents voted for the bond while 4,805 voted against.

In March of this year the Wasatch County Council redrew boundary lines between the Central and Southern planning areas after a land owner asked for more dense zoning. The action introduced some parcels with more dense zoning into the Central planning area. Advocates that created the proposition argued that the introduction of more dense zoning in an area that housed the North Fields could set a bad precedence. They also argued that making a change for one land owner was not in the best interest of the community as a whole.

Although advocates fought to get Prop 10 on the ballot, the wording of the ballot was such that those who voted in favor of the ballot were backing the council’s decision while those who voted against were voting to overturn the decision. 6,664 county residents voted against Prop 10 while 3,958 voted for.